Undergraduate Musical Theater Program Opens Fall 2019!

Undergraduate Musical Theater Program Opens Fall 2019!

College Staff | Jun 27, 2018

The Theater Division at Ohio University is happy to announce new and exciting opportunities for students entering college in the Fall of 2019, including the Undergraduate Musical Theater Performance program, a collaboration between the Theater Division, the School of Music, and the Dance Division!

Our B.F.A. in Performance is transforming into a 4-year degree with two tracks. Students may be accepted into either the Acting Track or the new Musical Theater Track.

Currently, students applying to the B.A. major will audition or interview for a B.F.A. program at the end of their first year. Students applying for B.F.A. programs in Performance, Production Design and Technology, Stage Management, and Playwrighting will soon be able to be accepted through auditions and interviews (each program has a slightly different process) as high school seniors. Talent scholarships are available to students who chose either option.

Ohio University Theater Division's production of Urinetown, 2016. Image by Daniel Winters.

Ohio University’s musical theater program is suited for students interested in creating the next generation of musical theater. The program focuses on developing exciting new work as well as providing a solid foundation in more traditional practice. The program will encourage specializations such as actor-musicianship, pop/rock performance and history, choreography, film and digital media, and performance wellness. Students will learn the entrepreneurial aspects of creating theater and will be well positioned to work in a variety of theater settings upon graduation.

NEW FACULTY

The Theater Division is proud to announce that Alan Patrick Kenny will be heading the Musical Theater Track. Mr. Kenny is a theater director, musician, producer, and educator. He comes to Ohio University with a distinguished record, most recently serving as the B.F.A. Musical Theatre Program Coordinator and tenured Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he directed Metamorphoses, Dogfight, On the Twentieth Century, Carousel, and The Producers, and music directed Monty Python’s Spamalot, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Next to Normal, and Lucky Stiff. Alan holds an M.F.A. in Directing from UCLA, and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance/Music Theatre from New York University, Steinhardt.

At age 20, while attending NYU, Kenny started a no-budget summer theater company in his hometown, Cincinnati, OH, called New Stage Collective. As the Producing Artistic Director, Kenny transformed the company from an itinerant nomadic summer troupe to a professional non-profit organization with a permanent, rehabbed performance space and a $250,000 operating budget. During his tenure, he led New Stage through 7 seasons, 32 productions, 22 regional premieres, 21 production awards, and 53 award nominations.

Additional new musical theater faculty will augment the already excellent performance faculty. This faculty will connect the Theater Division with the programs and resources of the School of Music and the Dance Division.

INQUIRIES?

For more information contact: David Haugen, Head of B.F.A. Peformance, haugend@ohio.edu or the Theater Division: theater@ohio.edu or call the Theater Division at 740 593-4818.